


Love is like the wild rose-briar

by RebeccaAnabelBurrows



Series: Blackish green [1]
Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Diana's lasso, Drinking Games, F/F, Never Have I Ever, Quite a lot of angst, Truth or Dare, alfreda is like everyone's mom, but I guess we would say it is a happy ending, poor hal lacking confidence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 13:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21198755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaAnabelBurrows/pseuds/RebeccaAnabelBurrows
Summary: Haleigh Jordan just wanted to have fun instead of doing whatever Clara Kent's ideas of teambuilding might imply (probably nothing good).Telling Briar Wayne she loved her was definitely not a part of the plan.





	1. Sow the wind...

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Emily Brontë's poem Love and Friendship - who wouldn't fit this fic if reads in his integrality, but whose first verse is relevant enough here.

Haleigh was half asleep when her feet were brutally shifted off the coffee table. She squealed as she fell on her ass and flailed her arms in the most inelegant way possible.

"The hell ?" she asked, groaning and massaging her backside.

Briar Wayne, professional annoyer and Haleigh Jordan’s less favorite teammate, stood in front of her in her self-righteous glory.

Haleigh rubbed her eyes tiredly and blinked at the other woman owlishly. She only had had six hours of sleep in two days and resented her partner for tearing her away from Morpheus’ welcoming arms.

“Where do we have to go ? Please, let it not be anything major. I feel like shit.” she sighed.

Coffee. Coffee was her friend.

“We’re not going anywhere. I just can’t stand people putting their feet on the furniture. It’s just rude.”

Hal growled and resisted the urge to pin her teammate against the wall.  
She should have known that her disruptive teammates would never let her have some peace while she was at the Watchtower.

“You know what is just rude ? Infringing upon your teammates’ limited sleeping time.”

In her defense, Briar looked sorry once she had realised how exhausted Hal looked. Not that she was going to say that. She smiled at Hal’s disheveled form affectuously.

“It’s 4 p.m. anyway. You won’t get any sleep at night if you nap until suppertime.”

Hal looked at her strangely. She could tell Briar was this close to brush her hair away from her face and kiss her forehead.

“Please keep the mommy instincts for your kids. The “no feet on the table” policy and the sleep schedule’s thing ? It makes me think of my Mom. What’s next ? No texting during dinnertime ? It’s creepy.”

Briar laughed. It was a pretty, hearty laugh. Not the insincere crystalline laugh she served to people as Briar Wayne, shallow CEO of Wayne Enterprises. 

“I don’t know. Would your Mom try to interest you in team building activities ?” she deadpanned.

Hal was trying to comb her hair with her fingers, wincing at the knots. She stopped, her brow furrowed. 

“Since when are we doing team building ?” she asked.

Briar raised her hands in a universal appeasing gesture.

“Don’t shoot the messenger, it was Clara’s idea.”

Hal rolled her eyes. Clara's ideas… Sure, she had a leader's charisma and she was skilled at many things, but honestly - 

“Clara’s dating Apollo, allow me to have doubts on the merits of her ideas." she concluded.

Briar smiled pleasantly. If anything, Briar Wayne smiling pleasantly meant you didn't have a choice and that she was merely an informer who didn't really have a choice either.

"Flash and Aqua have already agreed."

Bad news. Haleigh sighed.

"Please help me to change it in drinking games or something. I deserve the alcohol. And I am not building a Lego Atlantis with Arthura or playing trivia with Brittany. That was what elementary school was for."

Briar shook her head. She didn't sound overly enthusiastic over team building, but Bat Queen rarely showed enthusiasm about anything.

"And playing spin the bottle is somehow more mature ?" she argued.

Hal fluttered her eyelashes at Gotham's most famous resident.

"Only as mature as you make it, sweetheart." she said in a breathy tone.

Briar crossed her arms flippantly. Or not so flippantly, Hal wasn't certain.

"That's it, I am voting for board games. Monopoly will probably be a lot of fun."

Briar said.

She looked only half-serious. Maybe she'd like a drink too.

"Briiiaarr." Haleigh pouted.

She was now fully awake. 

"Convince me." Briar challenged.

She wouldn't have said so if she didn't favor Haleigh's choice, which meant it shouldn't take too much to convince her.

"I'll cook tonight." Hal said tentatively.

Clara Kent and Arthura Curry were okay cooks and Apollo a total disaster. Victoria Stone was somewhere between the three of them and Brittany was much better than all of them, but Hal was the one who taught her how to cook. 

Briar just never cooked under any circumstances, and Hal's guess was that she shared Apollo's inability to respect instructions in the kitchen. Or for Briar, the inability to respect instructions anywhere, which was frustrating as hell when you worked on the same team.

However, Hal rarely cooked - Brittany was more prone to offer and would make dinner more often than not when they stayed at the Watchtower - quite a lot of time lately, which prompted some tensions and was probably the reason why Clara was so adamant about team building.

Briar shook her head.

"We're meeting at my place at 6. You don't want to know what happened to the last date who suggested they'd cook for me for a change."

Hal shuddered. She would never have ever suggested it if she had been in Briar's date's shoes. Did the poor guy have a death wish ? Alfreda had free reign over the Wayne Manor's kitchens.

"Dear Alfreda sent his cooked remains to his parents ?" 

Hal asked.

It wouldn't have surprised her. Briar's Butler/Cook/Friend/Parental Figure/Mentor/Etc crept Haleigh out. Oddly, it made the Green Lantern quite admirative of her.

"I wouldn't know, but I have never seen her again."

Haleigh's eyes widened a bit at the light correction but she didn't mention it. It was better kept for later analysis.

"Nothing compares to Alfreda's cooking anyway." she mumbled. 

It was true. 

Briar leaned against a wall. Hal wondered if she knew that the relaxed position was flattering on her or if Briar was unaware she was torturing the Lantern.

"Right. What are you going to bribe me with ?"

Briar's tone was playful. Hal wondered what to make of it. She often wondered a lot about her teammate's intentions, said teammate not being easy to read and using manipulation a bit much too frequently for Hal's comfort.

She had a few ideas about what answer she could give to Bat Queen but she was smart enough to keep them for herself. For now at least.  
Maybe Briar would be more amenable to them later on.

"Let me see… What about my ring ? I'll lend it to you for a few hours. You could examine it. I know you'd love to."

Briar seemed to consider her offer, but Hal had seen her eyes light up at the prospect. She was in.

"My, a ring. I would have to offer you dinner or something."

She sounded amused, but both realized that it was a great display of trust from a Green Lantern. If it wasn't for Briar's satisfied smirk - she loved those too much -, Hal would have considered coming back on her offer.

Briar looked at her watch and then at Haleigh.

"See you tonight, Jordan." she said softly. 

Haleigh responded in kind and watched her go.

Not long after, the whole team was reunited at Briar's. 

"Clara, I wondered if we couldn't get more team building done by just playing games and drinking together in a family way than in doing exercises where we cooperate like mere colleagues. What do you all think ?" their host asked.

Hal snorted and covered for it with a cough.Their gazes met across the room. Briar raised her glass slowly. Haleigh imitated her.  
Nobody seemed to notice, everyone arguing about what game they should start the evening with.


	2. ... and reap the whirlwind

"It's a good game." Arthura was saying, supported by most of the team.

Briar had crossed her arms and looked quite unhappy.

"It's a stupid one." she said through gritted teeth before taking a sip of her drink.

Clara put an arm around Briar’s shoulder.

"Come on, B. It'll be fun." she insisted.

Briar sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Can someone explain the rules to me ?” Apollo eventually asked.

He had never played before and was curious about that game that Briar seemed to hate. Briar yielded after some coaxing from Victoria and Clara.

"Okay, so we're making a circle first.” Haleigh started to explain.

Furniture was moved around for a bit, and then they each took their seats. Victoria sat next to Arthura, who sat next to Clara and Apollo, who had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend’s waist. Next came Haleigh, Brittany and Briar, just on Vic's right.

"So, a player makes a statement starting with 'Never have I ever'. Each player who has done it has to drink. This way we learn things about each other." Vic explained. 

Apollo took a few seconds to process it correctly before asking questions. It sounded like a nice game.

"Is the goal to say stuff I have done when it's my turn so I can drink ?" he finally asked.

Some of the women laughed. Clara gave him a peck.

"Depends on you. Do you want to start ?" Hal asked.

Apollo nodded, and stopped to think about what he could say.

"Never have I ever… skied !" he said.

Haleigh shook her head bemusedly but kept her mouth shut. She wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun.

Briar drunk. So did Victoria, but no one else did. Briar didn’t say anything and put on her blankest face, so Hal supposed it had to do with family holidays from her past. Haleigh had gotten better at reading Briar than she thought she would ever be.

Victoria said something about renting a chalet for a few days with some friends. Everyone laughed at her story of failed Raclette, stealing the spotlight away from Briar’s sudden tenseness.

"Never have I ever pretended a life-threatening injury was nothing but a scratch." Hal said.

Briar rolled her eyes, before looking at her glass skeptically.

"Depends on your definition of life-threatening." she argued, throwing a death glare at the pilot.

"Drink, B." Apollo insisted, taking a sip of his own drink.

Haleigh still remembered her very own fear when Briar had almost fainted at the Watchtower after some vigilante's work had gone wrong.

It had not been a pleasant experience to have in mind, but right now it made Bat Queen forget about her parents.

After Haleigh, it was Brittany's turn. She smiled sweetly at her best friend. Hal put her glass to her lips before she had even uttered a word.

"Never have I ever pretended I was a cop."

Apollo and Arthura drank. However, Hal was certain she was the one being targeted.

"Fuck you, Britt. It happened only once !" she muttered.

The Flash couldn't help but detail how she had to call favors to get Hal out of the police station while Haleigh hid her face in her hands. Thankfully the tale wasn't long and they came back to the game.

Briar said she had never baked a cake, and everyone drank except for Apollo and her.

Victoria must have felt bored, because no one was ready for her statement.

"Never have I ever taken a peek at one of my teammates in the showers."

Vic was the only one not to drink, looking smug. Apollo and Clara didn't seem too bothered - either on accounts of them both being aliens or an actual couple -, but the others' cheeks had reddened considerably.

"How interesting."

Vic said, waiting for someone else to intervein eagerly.

However, no one volunteered more information about it. Victoria's smile grew larger.

"Vic, be nice and shut up." Arthura suggested. "Never have I ever lied to the media." she added as an afterthought.

Victoria and Apollo didn't drink.

"That's because they never ask you questions, Art." Hal said viciously.

Arthura rolled her eyes at him.

"They don't ask you questions either but you manage to lie to them anyway."

Vic's previous statement had made nearly everyone tense and Hal felt the need to retaliate, but they were interrupted.

"Calm down, children." Clara chastised them, trying to think of something less controversial. "My turn. Er… Never have I ever been in love with a woman."

She didn't drink. Neither did Victoria or Brittany.

"Okay, that was nice. What about a game's change ?" Hal asked. 

The questions were hitting a bit too close to home.

Briar and Arthura accepted immediately and the others followed.

"What about Truth or Dare ?" Clara suggested.

"I know how to play !" Apollo said with excitation. "We can use my lasso to make sure no one is lying."

Most of her teammates looked at the said weapon suspiciously. They had seen it in action and weren't too interested into having it used on them.

"Or we can trust our teammates." Briar said.

Which was laughable because Briar's trust in her teammates had been quite limited in the past. Hal hadn't been a big fan of Apollo's idea but hearing Briar wasn't either pushed her to change her mind.

"Planning to cheat, Spooky ?" she asked, and everyone stopped having objections to look at the Bat.

Briar sighed, resigned.

"Of course not." she mumbled. 

"Let's use Apollo's lasso then." Clara said. Bruce crossed her arms but didn't say anything more. 

Apollo asked Vic what she wanted. After a brief second of hesitation, the woman picked truth and touched the lasso Apollo had put in the center of their circle before answering her teammate's question.

In the next hour, they learnt about Victoria's teddy bears' collection, Brittany walked on her hands for fifteen seconds, they were told more about Apollo and Clara's sexlife by a blushing Clara than everyone was comfortable with thanks to Arthura, who was tasked with miming a fish before talking for the rest of the night.

Apollo had to walk around Briar's living-room in Clara's killer heels - he rocked them to be honest. Brittany confessed to have a fear of heights.  
Haleigh denied ever having worn the Green Lantern's suit naked. Britt looked like she disagreed.  
"I had knickers on. And if I haven't been knocked unconscious, you wouldn't know." Hal muttered, but not low enough to escape most of the team's notice.  
Briar was asked to do the Bat Queen's glare without her cowl on. 

It went on for some time, until things went wrong. What followed was a series of unfortunate events.

They have been playing for quite some time when Hal picked truth again.

"Have you ever fallen in love with someone you worked with ?"

Hal knew Brittany meant Carl Ferris. Nothing would have turned wrong is she had confided more into her best friend. Britt wasn't cruel and would have picked her questions more carefully for Hal's sake.

She was compelled to say the truth by the lasso she had put her hands on when choosing truth over dare but she thought she could get away with it with a simple answer.

"Yes." she said, and it should have been fine.

But then Apollo asked who, probably without even meaning it, or not expecting an answer. Apollo wasn't cruel either.  
Life was, though. Hal should have had the presence of mind to drop the lasso in a breath but she didn't react quickly enough - because of the alcohol, of her nervousness or something else entirely, she couldn't tell - and was forced to answer.

"Briar." she said. 

The lasso felt from her hands. It was the only sound that could be heard in the previously very noisy room. Haleigh Jordan picked up all the dignity she had left without meeting anyone's eyes, stood up and ran away in one corridor or another before even Flash could react. 

She was running without knowing where she was going. Briar's home was so big. It was a disaster and it looked like she was trapped here, she could never find her way out and she would have to seek Briar out before she could finally leave.  
That knowledge - or maybe the exhaustion of the last days and the humiliation of having her feelings thrown to her teammates - made her cry. It had been a long time since the last time. Hal dried her useless tears and tried to find her way out. She was surprised that Brittany - and her superspeed- wasn't at her side by now, and maybe a bit hurt.

She managed to find her way down and even the kitchen, where she knew there was an exit door. However she hadn't thought Alfreda would be there. 

The butler took a look at her, assessing potential injuries and taking in her distressed air, no doubt noticing the sound of footsteps coming closer.

The older woman sighed and offered the younger one a glass of water.

"Slow breaths, young lady. Please take a seat and wait for me. I'll make them go away."

Alfreda held her promise. Haleigh heard voices arguing behind the doors, Brittany and Clara and Briar's deeper voice for certain, but after some time she heard them going away and Alfreda made a new appearance in the kitchen.

She made Haleigh sit - she had stood still until Alfreda's return despite her orders - and brewed a pot of tea to share with her.  
She even brought her a blanket. Alfreda was the best.

"Do you want to talk about what happened, Miss Jordan ?" the woman asked.

Haleigh contemplated how much she could say to Briar's loyal standby.

"Miss Allen said it was her fault and Mr Prince wanted to apologize. Both seemed very upset. Miss Briar said she would like to talk to you."

As if. Hal hugged herself a bit more tightly.

"Did they tell you what happened ?"

It would only add to her humiliation. 

"Miss Stone talked about a game gone wrong and Mr Prince was about to add something but Miss Briar insisted there had been enough invasion of privacy for the night."

What did they say about small mercies ? Hal was thankful for that.

"Have you ever fallen in love so deeply it was difficult to hide it ? Have you ever tried your best to go on without betraying yourself so no one would ever guess ?" 

Alfreda shook her head negatively but she could relate. Thomasina Wayne's ghost still haunted her dreams, unbeknownst of all, and of the Waynes themselves. It will stay that way for everyone's peace of mind.

"I could have borne it as long as she didn't suspect anything. Tonight, it felt like my deepest secret was stripped away from me. It was accidental but I was in no way ready for this. She must hate my guts. I didn't want to tell her, Alfreda. I would have kept it to myself." Hal groaned, her head between her hands.

She didn't feel like crying anymore. Maybe she should eat some ice cream and go to sleep. Hopefully her teammates would have forgotten. 

"Maybe some good could develop from this situation. Have you considered talking with Miss Briar ?"

Hal rubbed her tired eyes. 

"How -"

She was certain she hadn't mentioned Briar by name. She had been careful with her words. 

Alfreda smiled at her.

"It's my job to know things. Our guests should have departed by now and Miss Briar is probably waiting for me at the bottom of the main stairs. You can just leave if you want, but I would advise you against letting things go unresolved. People tend to regret it."

Hal nodded. It was necessary she had a talk with her teammate at some point, anyway. Hopefully she could make it quick.

"Why are you coaxing me into mending things with her ?" she asked a bit suspiciously.

Manipulation seemed to be something deeply ingrained into the Manor's inhabitants. Alfreda would have shrugged if she wasn't more dignified than that.

"I only have Miss Briar's best interests at heart."

Hal rubbed her eyes once again - which reminded her that she had make-up on and made her sigh -, unsure of what Briar's mentor had meant.

"Thanks, Alfreda. I have to make things straight with her." she said, kissing the older woman's forehead before going back to the corridor.

Haleigh found Briar where Alfreda had suspected she would be waiting. She looked lost in her thoughts and didn’t even notice her friend at first.  
Haleigh took a breath and stepped in her direct field of vision.

"Hey."

Briar stood up, hesitating. The Green Lantern was certainly a sight - there was makeup all over her face, tracks of tears still visible.

" Haleigh ?" she called like you would call an injured wild animal.

The other woman shook her head. 

"No, Alfreda in disguise." she said humorlessly

Briar looked a bit more at ease and offered her teammate an indulgent smile.

"You've always been a funny one."

Hal stilled at her words. Briar looked confused.

" Anything you've found funny in what I said tonight ?" Hal whispered, arms crossed.

Briar tried to reach for her hand but she backed away. Bat Queen sighed.

"You must know I would never mock you for what you feel in your heart." she stated gravely.

Haleigh looked at her feet and cursed Alfreda silently. She really didn’t want to have this conversation right now. Not that waiting would make it any better.

"I wish I could have a GL mission right now. We could just forget about this mess." Hal mumbled in all honesty.

She would rather deal with other people’s problems than with her own.

“I don’t.”

Briar’s answer was enough to make Hal snap back. She looked at her friend with incredulity.

“You’d rather have this very uncomfortable conversation with me ?”

Briar held back another sigh and looked at Haleigh. 

“You’re the one making it uncomfortable.” she stated.

Hal laughed. It sounded like the cry of someone hurting. Briar flinched slightly.

“I am so sorry that me having feelings is inconveniencing you. I can’t exactly remove them so we can talk like two reasonable adults deprived of emotions.”

Her tone was harsh, and her words were too. She could feel them cutting through Briar’s skin.

“Could you actually listen to what I am saying instead of interpreting it wrongly like you always do ?” the woman seethed.

You could only have so much patience, and it was getting late. Or early, depending on the way you were looking at it.

“I could if you actually made sentences that made your intents more clear, Briar.” Haleigh snapped back. I don’t have a degree in decryption.”

They glared at each other for a few seconds. Eventually, Briar went a step closer to Hal but she relented.

“Fine. I don’t want to forget about this night because I am in love with you too, Hal. Obviously, the circumstances were less than perfect for your love confession and I understand that you’re upset that the team and I found out that way, but there are worse things in life than loving and being loved in return, don’t you think ?”

Haleigh stayed silent for a bit and sat on a stair. Briar joined her, careful to let some place between the two of them.  
Haleigh wouldn’t look at her.

“Do you mean it ?” she asked.

“Yes. I am sorry that you weren’t given the choice to keep it quiet or to say it when you actually wanted to but that’s all I am sorry for.”

Hal squeezed Briar’s hand, looking at it intently as she pronounced her next sentence.

“B, the thing is I didn’t want to say it. At all.”

Briar closed her eyes and if it had been anyone else, Hal would have thought she was fighting back tears. Haleigh squeezed her hand a bit tighter.

“I mean - it’s not - I - how could we even make it work ?”

Briar lifted up her eyelids and looked straight at Haleigh.

“We won’t know if we don’t even try.” she said, taking her hand away from the other woman. “Somehow, Apollo and Clara made it work.”

Haleigh wrapped her arms around her knees.

“That’s different and you know it. You’re a public character who also happens to be the CEO of a successful company. I have a job I care about back home and occasional monthly missions in space. Not to mention that we don’t see our families as often as we want as it is and that we’re going to be distracted when we’ll do League work.”

Briar put a comforting hand on her shoulder and tried not to act surprised when Hal brought her closer to snuggle up against her instead of pushing her away like she had done a few minutes ago.

“Haleigh. I know we can work it out. I am not saying it will be easy, but for you, I promise I’ll do my best. Of course, if you don’t feel that way, we can call it quits.”

The absolute certainty in Briar’s gaze decided Hal to take the plunge.

“I am not a quitter, and I want this. I want this so much I can’t help but think it won’t work, B.”

Her partner smiled.

“That’s the Haleigh I love.” she said softly, stroking her cheek.

Alfreda found them kissing and laughing half an hour later. Hal didn’t notice her. Briar just mouthed a ‘thank you’ in her direction before going back to their kissing session.

Everything wasn’t sorted out. Their relationship would have its ups and downs in the years to come but for now they were just fine.


End file.
